Firefighters in Illinois had to rescue two men who ended up being stranded on a sheet of ice in the middle of a river in the town of Rockford, west of Chicago.
The men had been fishing out on the ice when a portion suddenly broke free.
The pair ended up floating away and started drifting downstream along the Rock River on Monday afternoon.
Two men were sitting on a mattress on the ice fishing on the Rock River in Rockford, Illinois when the sheet of ice they were on broke free
Suddenly the ice sheet they were on broke free and the pair found themselves floating along with the current
Emergency services were called after eyewitnesses spotted the men floating by
The men were sitting on top of a mattress at the time of the incident around 2pm on Monday which was reported to the emergency services after eyewitnesses saw the pair floating on by.
Officials from Rockford fire arrived on the scene within minutes and caught the men just as they were heading underneath the Jefferson Street bridge.
Divers from the fire department launched a boat to reach the men out on the ice and they were quickly brought to shore.
The men were spotted floating near the Jefferson Street bridge
The men can be seen in the far distance close to the bridge in the center of the picture
The fire department quickly launched a boat from the banks in order to rescue the pair
The bright yellow dingy was connected to the shore via a long rope
The duo did not suffer from any injuries and were looked over by paramedics as a precaution.
The rescue, which only took a total of four minutes, was caught on camera by drone footage which saw firefighters on the shore running along the river banks as the ice floe continued to float along with the current.
Officials on scene said the current was moving so slow, it was easy for rescue crew divers to rescue the men using a ‘rapid deployable craft’.
The Department also said that had the plan failed, their ‘plan B’ was to use drop-down ladders for the men to climb on as they passed under the bridge.
Divers with the fire department helped the men into the inflatable boat
The rescue was all caught on drone camera from above as it hovered above the group
The footage shows just how far away from the shore the men were as they floated down river
The pair were brought safely back to shore where paramedics found them to be unharmed and with a good story to tell
Source: Daily Mail |World News
